November 30, 2005 - Today, the Toronto Community Foundation and the TTC unveiled its proposal to redesign three subway stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina route. The main goal of this redesign is to boost cultural tourism, improve transit ridership in Toronto, and revitalize public space. The three stations, Museum, St. Patrick, and Osgoode, will be redesigned to act as gateways to the cultural institutions found nearby. For example, Museum Station (see picture), will be transformed into a museum, with the support columns turned into mummies, totem poles, and classical Greek columns. Osgoode Station might possibly be renamed Osgoode-Opera to reflect the new Four Season Centre for Performing Arts opening right above the station. Music will be piped into the station from the Centre and moving pictures will be projected on the side walls. St. Patrick Station will be turned into a semi-art gallery, with scenes depicted on the walls to mirror themes from the AGO.
Personally, I have mixed feelings towards this revitalization. I think the idea of revitalizing these stations is a good one, since many of our stations are in desperate need of repair and updating. While the TTC tries to install public art into many of the stations (the Spadina line stations come to mind), the majority of them still look bland and are pretty ugly. Revitalizing some of our older stations is also one of the many ways to revitalize the entire transit system.
However, I feel that there should have been an open-competition to redesign these stations, rather than just accepting the proposal from one architect firm. While the design for museum Station looks pretty cool, the other ones are not THAT attractive (I don't see how the new St. Patrick Station has anything to do with the AGO). Also, are ads still going to be on displayed at these stations? If these stations are to be public art, they should be ad-free. Why redesign these stations if they are to be infiltrated with ads for pain medication or tv shows?
The new Museum Station will be opened next year, coinciding with the opening of the ROM Crystals. I guess time will tell whether the redesigned stations will be great pieces of public art or just tacky attempts to dress up our crumbling transit system.
November 19, 2005 - After months of anticipation, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the 4th (and my favourite) book in the series, finally opened last night. Despite showing up almost an hour earlier, we still had a hard time finding good seats - and had to sit pretty close to the screen.
That didn't stop me from enjoying the movie though! This time, Harry finds himself at the Triwizard Tournament, competing for the coveted title against three other contestants (one of them is Cedric Diggory - see picture - and of course everyone knows who I support :P ). Besides facing the challenges of the tournament, Harry must also face the trial and tribulations of being a teenager: namely meeting girls and learning how to dance!
The movie was a visual stunner - the Quidditch World Cup scene that set the story up was simply amazing. The Yule ball scene was beyond what I had imagined while reading the book. Having said that though, I also thought some of the scenes went a little beyond than required, namely the first challenge scene with the dragon - was it really necessary to follow the dragon for 10 minutes?
Since the book was over 700 pages, a lot of it was cut out to make the movie into 2.5 hours. Everything with Harry's "muggle" family was cut out, as were the house elves. I was a little disappointed over the absence of the house elves, since they were quite important to the story. Besides cutting out sections of the book, the movie also had to reduce the role of some of the characters. As a result, some of the main characters, like Sirius Black, Professor McGonagall, and even Hagrid, had only cameo appearances. Even Cho Chang, Harry's crush, had only 2 lines in the entire movie!
Overall though, the movie was still very enjoyable. There was no way that the adaptation would be perfect and I felt that the director did his best to please both fans of the books and those who have never read the books. The rise of Voldemort was done really well and I can't wait to see Ralph Fiennes in the upcoming movies. Cedric Diggory, played by Robert Pattinson, definitely added to the visual appearance of the movie :) too bad he died in the movie though...perhaps Cedric has a twin brother, or a look-alike cousin?
Speaking of the cast, the Harry Potter movies feature some of the most well known British film actors. Among those who have been in a HP movie include Maggie Smith (Prof. McGonagall), Ralph Fiennes (Lord Voldemort), Emma Thompson (Prof. Trelawney), Julie Christie (Madam Rosmarta), Julie Walters (Molly Weasley), John Cleese (Nearly Headless Nick), Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Kenneth Branagh (Prof. Lockhart), Jason Issac (Lucius Malfoy), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid)...
The movie for book 5 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - comes out in 2007! I can't wait to see who they cast as Professor Umbridge, my favourite character in the entire series (well, after Cedric Diggory I guess). My choice is still Dame Judi Dench - but is she too old for the part?
November 18, 2005 - Today is the day that Harry Potter fans have been waiting for - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire officially opens !!!
In a few hours, I will be at the theatre eagerly anticipating the start of the movie. We have tickets for the 9:15 show but I'll be there by 8:30 at the latest to line up to get in. The theatre will for sure be packed.
After surfing Goblet of Fire sites all afternoon, I came across these really cool posters for each of the Triwizard Tournament champions. Of course, being a huge supporter of Cedric Diggory - I had to download the official "I support Cedric Diggory" poster. I wonder if they sell these in the stores...
I have to say that they did an amazing job in marketing the movie. The movie posters for HP4 are some of the best that I've seen - and they have about 40 different ones. Some of them are unique to only specific countries (like these ones from Thailand that I found...). Many of them feature not only just Harry, Ron and Hermione, but also secondary characters like Cerdic (YES!!!), Fleur Delacour (she's kinda hot too eh), Vkitor Krum, and even Cho Chang.
Ok gotta go - I'm excited !!
November 17, 2005 - My friend Adriana and I were talking about the upcoming Harry Potter film and she mentioned that there's an online sorting-hat test that can determine which four of the Hogwarts Houses you belong to. Of course, I had to try it out myself to see whether I'm a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or worse, a Slytherin (Adriana is a Slytherin !).
After completing a somewhat silly test, the answer came to be...you guessed it, I'm a Hufflepuff.
So who are the Hufflepuffs you might ask? well read below !! (apparently, there's an entire website devoted to Hufflepuffs everywhere called Hufflepuffs Pride...sary eh ?)
Head of House: Professor Pomona Sprout, Herbology
House founder: Helga Hufflepuff
Mascot: Badger
Colours: Yellow and Black
Sorting Hat Description: These belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal; those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil.
Famous Hufflepuffs:
Cedric Diggory (picture above), Tri-wizard Tournament Champion, Captain and seeker of the Quidditch team
Hannah Abbott, Prefect
Ernie Macmillan, Prefect
Zacharias Smith, he was in Dumbledore's Army
Justin Finch-Fletchley, he was petrified in HP and Chamber of Secrets
Susan Bones, her aunt worked for the Ministry of Magic until she was killed by You-Know-Who
So there you go - the Hufflepuffs might be a bit boring, but if I can be in the same house as that dreamy Cedric Diggory, then I'm ok with that. Yes I know, he's a fictional character.
Here's another FYI for non-Harry Potter fans. The entire Harry Potter series takes place in the early to mid 90s. According to clues in the books, Harry Potter was born in 1980, meaning he's the same age as I am. So characters like Cedric, Cho Chang, Percy Weasley are all older than me !
So try the Sorting House test and let me know which house you belong to ! Here are the links to a couple of them:
http://www.thealmightyguru.com/reviews/harrypotter/docs/quiz-house.html
http://www.personalitylab.org/tests/ccq_hogwarts.htm
November 16, 2005 - It sucks being sick, but it's worst when you're alone.
On Sunday night, I felt sick for the first (and hopefully the last time) time this flu season. I knew I wasn't feeling 100% even in the afternoon, but I kept thinking that I could sleep it off in my apartment. When I got home that night, my conditions got worst - the point where I couldn't move and I had to wear layers of clothing just to stay warm. I also knew I have a high fever, judging my how warm I feel (while getting chills at the same time) and how my head felt like it was going to explode.
Struggling to even grab a cup of water from the kitchen, I finally had enough and called home. Mom came and picked me up. It was then I realized how difficult it is to be sick and alone. I don't know how some people do it - it's definitely not a fun experience.
So back up to Markham I went, where I spent three days fighting my fever and struggling to get my health back. It was sooooo nice to have mom around to bring me soup and water and to remind me to take my pills every 4 hours...
I'm such a baby eh...sigh...but at least I'm back on my feet now =)
November 12, 2005 - Let the countdown begin !
This summer, I finally had the chance to read all 6 Harry Potter books. The books have been sitting on my bookshelf for years now, but with school and work, it was hard to find time to read them (especially books 4 and 5, which were over 500 pages long). So finally, this summer, I had the chance to read them - all 6 in a row.
Of the 6, I have to say Goblet of Fire is my favourite. Perhaps it's because it's the first BIG book (over 70o pages) in the series. Or maybe it's because the book has more actions and feels a bit more grown up. Or perhaps it's because that dreamy Cedric Diggory is in it...
So in counting down towards Friday, when the movie officially opens, I have tried to find as many GoF posters as I can and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. Aside from that teaser poster that has been up since the summer, it seems like marketing forces at the WB have also developed entire series of posters featuring all the GoF characters - some of them are strictly for promotional uses overseas (particularly in Asia). I will try to post some of these posters on here over the next week, but here's one of my favourites so far, with Cedric and Cho Chang...
November 3, 2005 - Tonight marked a low point in my first week of living on my own.
Tonight, when I came home and found yet another bug in my bedroom, I finally lost it.
First, I'm just disappointed by the fact that the apartment didn't turn out the way I had hoped. Primarily because 1) it stinks because of the paint odour, which makes all my clothes smell like paint; 2) it's infested with creatures 3) it's really quiet and at times, even a bit lonely...
Seriously though, the bug situation has subsided. I still kill on average two bugs a day, but the size of them have decreased and we're talking about little creatures (don't see the big ones no more, touch wood)...but still...
So after finding yet another bug tonight, I decided to take action. All week I've been talking to the people at work and they've told me to get these roaches traps. So I decided to make a trip to Canadian Tire and buy a few for the apartment. I even did research on them all afternoon at work and have decided to get this one that will kill the eggs too (it's called Raid Eggs Bait or something like that).
Needless to say, the trip did not go as planned. The Canadian Tire at Bloor & Church does not carry roach traps anymore, because they are "out-of-season". Neither does the Shoppers Drug Mart at Yonge & Bloor. I was told to perhaps try the Canadian Tire at Eglinton and Laird.
Disappointed, I went back to Eglinton and took the bus to Laird. The Canadian Tire there was bigger, but still no traps. Pissed off that the whole trip was a waste of time (and fuelled by Jason's text msgs which also pissed me off - seriously, I think he doesn't quite know how this bug situation affects me), I finally just lost it and was THIS close to either knocking someone over with a can of Raid or burning down the apartment. I was just really upset that nothing seems to be going my way.
After cooling off a bit walking around the store (and with Jason finally figuring out that I'm ultra-pissed/depressed over this situation), I decided to buy that cocking gun, another can of Raid, and some steel wool to re-claim my apartment from those awfully disgusted creatures. I went back to my place, sealed up some cracks on the walls in my bedroom (that's where they seem to be found these days) and the bathroom, made a huge mess (I stopped caring though), while at the same time, cursed the genetic makeup of roaches for allowing them to survive past the Jurassic Period...
The other problem that I've found this week was that my toilet leaks water around the base. Though after some investigation, the problem doesn't seem that big nor important anymore. I mean, I flush the toilet maybe four times each day and it appears that the toilet will only leak under heavy usage (such as last weekend when my parents were around). A little paper towel around the base seems to do the trick for now.
At least that problem solved itself - sorta...
I feel better now that I've ranted...still, I think I might be a tiny bit home-sick...
